 Moores (right) has leapt to the defence of Collingwood |
England coach Peter Moores has backed Paul Collingwood following a difficult week for the one-day captain. The all-rounder was banned for four limited-overs internationals as punishment for England's slow over-rate against New Zealand at the Oval. That followed a decision not to rescind a run-out appeal against Grant Elliot after a collision with Ryan Sidebottom, though Collingwood later apologised. "I don't think it's damaged his captaincy," said Moores. "I think the fact he was then prepared to walk into their dressing room straight away and say 'listen fellas, I'm sorry, I don't think I got it right' says something for him. "It takes quite a big bloke to do that.  | I think we've played our cricket fairly all the way through |
"When someone gets picked for England, you pick them because they're made of the right stuff and they uphold the game. "Paul has done that. We've watched him play a lot for England and we have admired his determination, his grit and the way he goes about his cricket. "I back him because things happen in sport which you don't plan for and that is one of those things - and sometimes one of the keys is what happens after it happens." The Elliot incident provoked a furious reaction from the tourists in a fractious ending to the third one-dayer, which New Zealand eventually won by one wicket. Although the decision to withdraw the appeal ultimately lies with the captain, other senior figures could have stepped in to help Collingwood but Moores leaped to the defence of the England team. | 606: DEBATE |
"In situations like that it is all very fraught," he said. "They have been at it all day, they have been at it for three months or whatever, it is getting very tight and whatever decision is made out there, the group think the same. "Decisions are made in snap seconds and then it is done. "Afterwards you get a bit of time to reflect and the key then is do you think you made the right one or not? "One thing we want to make sure is that nobody thinks we want in any way to devalue the game of cricket itself." Despite the heated finale Moores insists his team always play within the spirit of the game and will continue to do so for the final one-day match at Lord's on Saturday, a match England be desperate to win to level the series at 2-2. "I think we've played our cricket fairly all the way through," Moores said. "You should judge somebody by how they go about their game and I think we have seen the England team play their cricket within the spirit of the game. "We have seen that all the way along through the series and I don't see anything different in that."
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